The Joker Never Dies
by zooman
Summary: My story is a direct sequel to the very first Batman movie in 1989! The story is set immediately after the movie Batman. The Joker has been found dead after falling to his death, but Batman suspects that the Joker may still be alive out there somewhere's! Batman embarks on his strangest and darkest case yet!


The Joker Never Dies

PROLOGUE-GOTHAM CITY-1989

It was a calm, warm night in Gotham early that evening.

Large crowds of people were filing into the Joker Comedy Club. The outside of the large, square building was shiny orange, with a massive clown face sculptured into the front of the building. The massive clown face was sculptured into a wide, evil looking grin, and sinister clown eyes. The building was on a huge empty parking lot, with a few other buildings seen far in the background.

Inside the comedy club, the walls were orange and purple and a male stand up comedian was standing on the stage in front of the audience, having everybody roaring with laughter with crazy joke after joke. The audience members all sat laughing and clapping in their purple and white coloured seats. The man on stage was about thirty or so and wore a brown sweater and blue jeans and white sneakers. He had short dark hair and a moustache, and a pudgy nose. "Anyways, I graduated college," the man spoke into the black microphone he clutched with both hands. He stood before an orange curtain, with a massive pop art, clown face imaged in the centre of the curtain. The face was the same as the one sculptured on the outside of the building: the giant, creepy, grin, the sinister looking eyes, but the face image on the curtain had wavy green hair and bright red lips! The face dead white. "After I got out of college I run into this girl I knew casually in high school, and I find she's a dumb blonde!" the man said into the microphone. The audience broke out in more laughter, "and we get into basic introductions, and she says:"hey, what you been up to Harold?" And I say:"I'm not Harold, I'm Cliff. And she says oh. You know? She accidentally walks into a wall at this point." More laughter from the audience. The stand up comedian at this point began walking all over the stage, holding the microphone and still facing the audience. "And I'm thinking to myself: well, how am I going to get along and even want to keep talking too a complete airhead like she is? You know? I mean at this point, the woman tells me that was one pregnant and she doesn't even know if the child was hers? You know?" The audience broke into even more laughter. "So I ask the woman when she graduated college, not really expecting answer you know? It turns out she did so badly in school that she never even got past primary school!" The audience laughed louder than ever. "So I tell her I say: "Well I don't know if there's a way to make up for that?' The stand up comedian swayed his body sideways as he still tightly held onto the microphone with both hands.

Later another comic was on the stage. A slender girl wearing a short sleeved white shirt and blue jeans and black boots and with short, curly white hair. She too held a microphone in both her hands, as she looked out at the audience. "Anyways, I was running down the street, and I came across some blind people walking down the street. They didn't see me..." The audience at that point interrupted with loud laughter. An orange and yellow spotlight shone upon the young lady comedian as she told her comedy routinue, "and as I'm running I slip on a puddle. And I fall face down into the water. And there's water going into my shirt! And I thought:"Oh thank god it's water! I thought I had third boob!" The audience louder than ever.

Later, yet another up and coming comic took the stage. A tall, well built, long haired black man wearing a dark blue suit and tie. He made a smarmy grin as he held the microphone in his right hand, and waved his left hand all about himself. "Did you know that President Reagan dyes his black with nail polish?" The audience burst out into loud laughter and claps and cheers. "Oh yeah," continued the young black man as he walked from left to right on the stage in front of the orange curtain with the giant, pop art style, sinister looking clown face on the coloured fabric, "he thinks it's hair dye but it's really nail polish you see." The audience laughed and laughed. The yellow spotlight shone directly on the stand up comedian. "And Nancy comes in to the bathroom and she says: (the black man now talks in a very high pitched voice) "Now Ronnie dear. You know you shouldn't use the nail polish..."

Later the same black comedian was strutting around stiffly on stage-the black microphone still clutched in both his hands-while the audience just kept on laughing. The Black man made a mean scowl over his entire face, as he peered out at the laughing audience. "I AM AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI!" shouted the black man, "I HAVE A CANNON UNDER MY BED..."

Hours later, people were all leaving the club chattering happily amongst themselves.

After everyone was gone, the lights in the club the elderly doorman began switching off the lights. He had short gray hair and wore a gray uniform.

Suddenly two people walked up to him from out of the darkness. The ageing doorman spun around in shock. He looked with much surprise at the newcomers. His mouth aghast. "Who are you?"he asked with a note of fear.

A tall man wearing a purple jacket and purple pants and brown shoes. He wore a green shirt under his purple jacket with a large, green bow tie. A large, felt purple hat was on his green haired head. His face was dead white with bright red, clown lips and green eyebrows. He swung a long, purple cane.

The young woman standing on the left side of him wore a skintight red and black, checkered outfit: her outfit had red skintight pants and black booty, complete with three large images of black diamonds on the right side, red trouser leg and black skintight pants and a red booty on the left side of our outfit. Three images of red diamonds were on the black, trouser leg. The black colour went up to her stomach area in the shape of a giant black checker. On the other side of her outfit, the red colour also went up to her stomach area in the shape of a red checker. The upper body part of her outfit was black, with three red diamond images on the black long sleeve and a white wristband and a red glove. The left side of the upper body area of her outfit was red, with three black diamond images on the red sleeve, a white wristband and a black glove. The woman had a white face. She had red and black lips. She wore a black mask about her eyes. She wore a red and black jester cap. The cap was red on the right side and black on the left. She wore a big, white billowy collar. Two large white balls were at the end of the two curled horns on the red and black jester cap. The woman made an evil sneer at the elderly doorman.

The ageing doorman just stood there staring at the bizarre couple with much surprise. The tall, purple clad-clownish looking man made a wide, evil grin showing his shiny white teeth. He lowered his green eyebrows at the doorman and picked up his purple cane with both his purple gloved hands. Part of the green shirt sleeves, underneath the purple jacket sleeves popped out. "My dear, dear man,"chuckled the purple clad clownish man in a very creepy tone of voice, he did a very slight tap dance, "I opened this club as merely a front for my new hideout, hahahahahahahaahaha!" The clownish man and the red and black clad young woman standing besides him both turned their heads and kissed each other on the lips. Then he turned his evil attention back at the elderly doorman once again. His green eyes sparkled with evil intentions. "All of Gotham will once again fear my name! They will fear and laugh at the same time! Once more they find themselves up against the one clown they can never be rid of. THE JOKER!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The elderly doorman stared at the couple in horror as he took a few steps backwards.

ONE-

Commissioner Gordon and a whole squad of blue uniformed police officers all stood around the small area outside the Gotham Cathedral. It was approaching midnight now. There were squad cars behind the commissioner. Gordon wore a long, tan trench coat and a brown felt hat. He brushed his hand over his gray moustache as he looked down at the street. "Ok, it seems as if Jack Napier finally met his maker," Commissioner Gordon told all the other policemen as he began doing a slow walk all about the area. There was a large white chalk outline of a body on the pavement. One young lady police officer with short blonde hair came walking up to the commissioner. "Well, Napiers' body was taken to the morgue a couple of hours ago. The coroners sure came here fast," smirked the officer as she jotted down some stuff on a notepad she held in her hands, and looked down at the pavement, "usually it takes those guys forever to get started." Commissioner Gordon pulled his trench coat tighter about himself, as he stared upwards to the top of the cathedral structure. "Why is that eyesore still up?!" Gordon asked out loud to no one in particular, "it was condemned by the city ages ago!" The young lady police officer just shook her head and kept on writing down some notes on her notepad.

Some time later, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, the mayor and several other people, switched on the bat signal for the first time.

Batman stood on the rooftop watching the signal light up the sky.

He turned around and pulled a small, dark blue, bat shaped object out of his yellow utility belt. He aimed the object at the adjacent rooftop, directly across the night time street from the one he stood upon. A long, dark blue, rope in the shape of a bat came screeching out of the gizmo. A small, bat shaped, metal hook emerged from the tip of the rope and hooked itself into the ledge of the twenty story building, across the street. Batman then gripped the rope with both his black gloved hands, and swung off the rooftop he stood upon, and swung right across to the adjacent building. His large black cape taking on a crazy swooshing form as he swung. The black garbed crime fighter ran through his mind, the last events with the Joker...

_The Joker hung onto the bottom of the helicopter, but the weight of the object tied to his purple pants legs kept pulling him down. Finally, the clown prince could no longer hang on, and he fell to the street below._

_His body lay on it's back on the street._

The Batman reeled in the dark blue rope, back into the bat shaped gizmo he carried his gloves, and turned and sprinted across the rooftop. His black boots clinking against the rooftop. "He's dead! Gone for good!" the dark knight thought to himself bitterly, as he ran. The huge bat signal illuminating the Gotham night sky behind him. Batman thought back to when he was a boy...

_Jack Napier just stood over the dead bodies of his mother and father, and made a sinister grin at the terrified young boy. "Hey kid," he snickered,"you ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?"_

Batman shed a tear and shook his black cowled head, as he raced across the rooftop.

The Joker Comedy Club was particularly lively that late night.

The medium heighted, late thirtyish performer stood on the stage in front of the orange curtain, holding the microphone in both his hands, as he moved his boy all all about the stage. The man had short dark hair and a thin moustache. He wore alight blue business suit and a white shirt and a white bow tie. He wore white shoes. "SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!" shouted the voice of the unseen club announcer, "RUPERT PUPKIN!" The audience burst into loud claps and cheers as the yellow spotlight shone directly on the young comedian. He made a sly grin as he looked all about the audience. "You know, I wasn't always rich and famous, "said Rupert Pupkin as he put the microphone closer to his face, "I used to live in a beat up chevy. Oh yeah. It got beaten up by a gang of squirrels looking for nuts." The audience snickered. "The only nut in the car was me," he continued, "I was busy working on new material. Oh yeah. Like did you hear the one about the burgler? Well neither did the burgler and that's why he's in jail!" The audience laughed.

Backstage after the performance, Rupert Pupkin walked down the green and purple coloured hallway heading towards the back entrance of the blue, when he was approached by a tall, gray haired man wearing a tan business suit and tie and wearing glasses. The man came slowly walking towards him with a very angry look over his face. Rupert Pupkin looked up at the man with pained recognition. "Jerry," Rupert said to the man, "you came to see my act?" Rupert chuckled a bit. The other man just stood there quietly scowling at Rupert. "The only reason your a big dude now,, is because YOU HIJACKED MY SHOW, AND STALKED AND TOOK ME HOSTAGE!" Jerry shouted at Rupert, "what do you have to say for yourself?!"Rupert just looked at Jerry silently for a few seconds. "Hey look man," Rupert stammered, lost for words, "what can I say? I mean we stars sometimes have to resort to extreme ways to get ahead.

A gorgeous, dark skinned young woman in a blue and white checkered dress came up to Rupert from behind him in the purple and green hallway. Rupert turned his head to grin at her, then he put his arm around her. "Rita, look who's here," Rupert said. Rita looked up surprised at the sight of Jerry. Her long black hair was braided. "How are you Mr. Langford?" Rita said.

Jerry craned his angry face closer towards Rupert's and made a cruel smile. He pointed his finger at Rupert's chest. "You haven't heard the last of me," threatened Jerry as his glared from both Rupert to Rita over and over again, "not by a long shot. I did what I could at your trial to have you and that rich psycho locked up forever. I'll get you yet! Enjoy your fame while it lasts!" And with that the tall man turned around and stomped angerly down the green and purple hallway and pushed open the door of the back entrance. "Hey Jerry!" Rupert called out, "I still have you as my mentor Jerry! I never could have made it without you!" Rupert broke into laughter. "No doubt about that," he said quietly.

At the Gotham City Police Station, Commissioner Gordon sat in his office behind his desk, busily doing paperwork, after paperwork. The brightly lit, brown walled room was packed with tables and chairs. Gordon wore only a white, long sleeved shirt and a black tie. He made a smile, as he looked down at his paperwork, "I would have preferred him in jail," Gordon said to himself as he kept up his work, "but having Jack Napier dead is the next best thing."

In the Joker Comedy Club, more people were walking into the club.

The woman wearing the black and red checkered, skintight outfit walked right past everyone. Her curvy body totally swathed in the black and red checkered costume.

Back on the stage in the comedy club, another stand up comedian was on stage. This time it was a full figured, short haired black woman wearing nothing but a pair of blue suspenders. She held the black microphone in her right hand, and made loud jungle animal noises.

At that moment, a long, purple cane came out from the left side of the side and hooked itself around the stunned woman's neck. The woman was then yanked off the stage while making a loud yelp. The audience just laughed and laughed.

The woman found herself sliding down a purple and green chute and finally landed in foetal position inside a small, purple and orange coloured, octagon shaped office of some sort. The Joker was seated behind a large brown desk in the office, with the woman in the red and black checkered costume standing behind him. The young black woman stood up and faced The Joker with a look of shock on her dark skinned features. The Joker made a deep frown at the woman, as he removed his purple hat, revealing his shock of wavy green hair. The woman behind him just shook her head and sighed. "Those skits of yours was awful!" bellowed the Joker in a mean tone, "SO GET OUT A HERE!" The dark skinned woman turned around and ran back up the chute.

Commissioner Gordon sat in his office still busily doing his immense paperwork on his desk, when he heard a sound at the office window on the wall at the right side of him. He turned and saw a black, caped figure perched at the window sill. Gordon gasped in shock as he whipped open the window. Batman stood crouched at the window, with a slight smile coming over his face. His black cape fluttering behind him. His black costume and yellow and black bat emblem glinting in the moonlight. "Batman!" exclaimed the surprised Commissioner, "what brings you here?" "I wanted to ask you about your progress in rounding up the rest of the Joker's gang/henchmen, "answered the dark knight grimly, "I'm glad the Joker is finally dead." Gordon nodded. "You and me both." Gordon leaned a little ways, his overweight body creaking against the window sill, as he faced Batman, "yeah we got just about all his gang. We're still on the lookout for that one girlfriend of his Harley Quinn. She was seen running out of the cathedral on the night Joker was killed, but we haven't found any clue to her whereabouts." "Well she's small fry," said Batman, as he tried balancing himself on the window sill, by pushing his black gloved hands against the sides of the window, "in any case Joker was the big fish and he's dead. Nothing more to be said. Goodnight Commissioner." Batman leaped upwards from the sill. Commissioner Gordon leaned his overweight body out of the open window and looked upwards. He saw the black costumed dark knight, swinging from along, dark blue rope high above his head, away from the window. "GOODNIGHT BATMAN!" Commissioner Gordon shouted out, "AND THANKS FOR THE NEW BAT SIGNAL!" Batman's wide black cape fluttered into the shape of a massive spiral as he swung out of sight, into the night.

As Batman swung away his head replayed the last events of his battle with the Joker yet again.

_The Joker grabbed hold of the bottom of the helicopter, but the huge chunk of rock tied to his leg pulled him off the chopper and downwards to the pavement below._

_The Joker's body lay lifeless on the street. A mechanical laughing sound emanating from the body._

Batman swung his black costumed body higher and higher upwards above the nighttime Gotham City. A flock of bats flew by him. "The monster who killed my family is dead, "Batman thought sourly, "let him rot!"

It was early morning in Gotham City.

Inside the Joker Comedy Club, the Joker and Harley Quinn and a small gang of henchmen all stood together in a small, green and orange coloured walled room. The room was cluttered with a few black tables and chairs. Pistols and grenades and machine guns were all piled up on all the tables. There were ten, tiny, round windows on all the walls of the room. The Joker and Harley Quin both walked together all over the purple and green coloured carpet of the room. The Joker wore his purple hat as he pranced about the room in the comedy club, with a huge, evil, psychotic grin on his dead white face. His burly henchmen all wore tan jackets and pants and yellow shirts underneath. "This club, as you all know, is merely a front for my base of operations. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker's grin became wider as he twirled his purple cane around and around and around in his purple gloved hands, "we got a heap of things to do, if we want to bring Gotham City to it's knees, "sneered the Joker in a loud, sinister tone.

One of the henchman-a forty something black man with long gray hair, suddenly stood up, and shook his head at the Joker while making a sarcastic, doubting smile. "Bring Gotham to it's knees huh?" he asked the purple clad, clown prince of crime, "I knew you were crazy Joker, but I didn't know you were THAT CRAZY!"

The Joker made a quick glance at the burly black man, then seemingly ignored him and went on with his talk. He and Harley Quinn paced all about the room together, while he continued to twirl the purple cane. "Now, we have one advantage, we one big advantage, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker did a little tap dance all about the green and orange coloured room, "Gotham and the bat both think I'm dead. A big advantage."

The dark skinned, burly henchman sat back down in his seat and looked the Joker up and down with a curious look spreading over his chunky face. "And that's another thing, how did you survive that fall anyways?! The Gotham Cathedral is like thirty stories!"

The Joker frowned, shot another look in the man's direction, then ignored him and went on with his talk. He broke into another wide, evil grin. "Now," said the Joker as he walked back and forth, "hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! With me being 'dead' the time is right to take Gotham by the balls and bring the city down around itself."

The dark skinned henchman stood up again and shook his head at the Joker. "You are not only crazy Joker," the black man told his boss, "You are stupid! One stupid motherfucker!"

The Joker stopped talking and moving about the room, and looked squarely and seriously at the henchmen.

"The Batman is gonna kick your purple boot!" shouted the black man, "and your gonna be nothing but a purple cupcake, when Batman gets done with ya! You are one stupid motherfucker! Your crazy and retarded! And i'm out a here!"

The Joker stood silently and just stared at the henchmen for a minute or so. Harley Quinn walked closer towards the Joker. She too just stood and stared at the henchmen. "Uh...Rast...if you could stay behind after the meeting is over?" The Joker finally said.

The dark skinned henchman sat back down and looked with worry at the Joker.

The Joker and Harley Quinn continued their pace all about the room. "So, we get ready for plan A. So get a move on! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker broke into his large, twisted, evil grin as all the henchman walked out of the room. All except the one black man who just sat there.

The Joker and Harley Quinn both looked at him as they took some steps towards him. The Joker's huge grin became even more evil as he looked at the insolent henchman. "So you have an issue with me. Is that right Rast?" the sinister clown prince asked him in a mean kind of way while cocking his green haired head from left to right.

The black man just gulped as he looked at the Joker. "I just want out," the henchman insisted, while shaking his head, "I don't care to work for a psychopath like you." The Joker just grinned his nasty, evil grin and leaned his purple clad body backwards. "Well if that's how you feel Rast, then I suppose I owe it to you to let you out,"the Joker agreed with a snicker.. The black man stood up again. "Thank you, "he said.

Some, light green gas sprayed from a red carnation hung on the Joker's left lapel. The gas sprayed all over the black man who began coughing violently, then collapsed on his back on the floor. His dark skinned features changed into that of a dead white coloured, grinning face, with big, red clown lips. His eyes were glazed over as he lay dead on the floor. The Joker and Harley Quinn both turned to grin at each other, then both of them turned away from the corpse.

Back at the Gotham Police station, Commissioner Gordon sat at his desk still busily focused on the immense paperwork he had to fill out.

He then picked up the black phone on his phone, put the receiver in his ear and dialed a number. "Hello? Coroner's office? It's Commissioner James Gordon here. Say listen, the burial for the Joker A.K.A. Jack Napier is in a day or so, and I'd like to know if you got the body ready for burial as yet?" Gordon just sat listening for a minute or so, then his pudgy face took on a slightly agitated expression. "What do you mean you don't know where the body is right now? C'mon! Locate it down there and get on the ball!" Gordon hung up and and got up out of his chair and rushed out of the office.

The people were fast clearing out of the courtroom. Harvey Dent stood at the table, packing some papers into the small, brown folder. He looked down at the papers smiling. He wore a black suit and tie.

This one gangster looking individual wearing a dark blue trench coat and hat, and with a snarling expression on his face walked up to Dent's table, and slammed both his fists down on the table. Harvey Dent looked up in shock. His handsome black face went from an expression of strength and determination, to tiny broken pieces of fear. The gangster looking man was about sixty, with a gray beard and a scar across his left cheek. He made a mean look at the lawyer. "If you go through with the trial you're a dead man Dent, you here me!?" growled, "I'll shoot you while I'm on the witness stand! Or I'll do worse!" The man slammed his fists down on the table again and stormed out of the fast emptying courtroom. Harvey Dent frowned and then looked back down on his folder on the table.

Commissioner Gordon came running into the gray walled courtroom and dashed to the table where black attorney stood. Harvey Dent turned his head to glance at the commissioner and smiled. "Harvey," said Gordon while waving his hands, "it's not terribly important but..." "What is it Jim?" Harvey asked the overweight policeman. "Oh, I'll need you to have a look at the Joker's case files. I mean some of his captured henchmen are going on the stand in a week or so. And you'd better get yourself case prepared. " The black skinned lawyer just smiled and nodded at the commissioner. "I'll have a look later today." "Fine," said Gordon, "right now I'm trying to get that Mickey Mouse Club down at the morgue, to get the Joker's body ready for burial." Harvey Dent just made a slight laugh and looked down at his folder on the table again. He shook his head.

Outside, the Joker Comedy Club, the Joker and Harley Quinn walked arm in arm out of the back entrance and into a dark alleyway. The Joker was laughing an evil laugh and swinging his purple cane in his right, purple gloved hand.

Then, from out of nowhere, the Joker and Harley Quinn were completely surrounded by what looked like an organized crime mob. The ten gangster looking men all wore black or brown overcoats and hats, and each one carried a machine gun. All of the men had mean expressions on their faces. The Joker and Harley Quinn both turned their bodies around and around studying their would be assailants with much surprise. "What's going on?" The Joker asked the men,"who are you?! What do you want?!" "We know you want to be top crime boss in Gotham Joker!" shouted an overweight man in a black overcoat and hat and aiming a machine gun at the couple, "can't let that happen!" The man took few steps towards the Joker. "Nobody can take Boss Thorne's territory! As in me!" The man was about in his sixties and had short gray hair and was very pudgy. He a gray moustache. "So, you have two choices Joker!" Boss Thorne gave his warning. The Joker stared at Thorne and made a wide, evil grin. "And what's that? May I ask?" the clown prince asked. "Eitheir you get outta town or we kill ya!" concluded Boss Thorne. He cocked the machine gun he carried in his hands. The Joker looked down at the ground for a second. Harley Quinn stared in fright at the crime boss. The Joker kept up his evil grin and looked back at Boss Thorne.

The Joker then pressed his left, purple gloved finger on the carnation on the lapel of his purple jacket. More of the light green gas emerged from the carnation and immediately sprayed all over the entire mob gang! The men started coughing and screaming and began eitheir trying to aim their guns at the Joker or were falling over, while shaking and moaning in agony. The Joker reached into his left purple pants pocket and pulled out two green gas masks. he put one on his face and he put the other one on Harley Quinn's white face. Then both he and Harley Quinn broke into a run out of the alleyway. A couple of the gangsters tried to rush the Joker, while dropping their guns on the street, but the the Joker just laughed and karate chopped both of them. Boss Thorne himself came rushing towards the Joker while dropping his gun and coughing and shouting in pain and agony. The Joker delivered a fast karate chop across his neck, then he grabbed Harley Quinn's left gloved hand, and pulled her out of the alleyway. A few seconds later, most of the the men were dead. And all the corpses's faces had transformed into dead white clown faces sprouting huge, evil, sick grins!

The Joker and Harley Quinn went running down the street holding hands. The demented couple ran past all the various gothic and very old looking buildings dotting the Gotham City cityscape.

Boss Thorne lay face down on the street still twitching his left hand fingers.

The Joker and Harley Quinn ran fast down the street, while the Joker laughed loudly.

Back at the Gotham Police Station, Commissioner Gordon was busy talking on the phone again "What do you mean there's no corpse!?" Gordon shouted into the phone,"that's impossible! What's going on!"

The Joker and Harley Quinn moved down another dark alley, when the Joker suddenly keeled over against one of the walls in the alley. He put his purple gloved hands on his hips. Harley Quinn just stared at him with her mouth open. "What's wrong?" she asked after a minute. The Joker stood keeled over against the brick, seemingly with a flash of pain and rememberance.

_He was falling down the side of the Gotham Cathedral. He landed on his back on the pavement below..._

The Joker keeled over even furthur against the brick wall of the alley. He shook his head and his purple gloved hands clutched his back even tighter.

_He landed with a heavy thud on his back on the pavement..._

The Joker gritted his teeth and looked upwards. "Uhhhhhhhhhh...it's nothing dear," moaned the Joker in pain, "just a bad memory." Harley Quinn still just stood there and watched him. "Say Joker, how did you survive that fall from the cathedral?" she finally inquired very uncomfortably, "that's such a long drop. No body could've survived that." Joker turned away from the brick wall and made a cheesy grin at Harley. "HOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Joker laughed, as he guided Harley out of the alley, "let's get going shall we dear? No need to waste time with stupid questions. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Back in the other alleyway, the Joker's tan and yellow uniformed henchmen all bent down and dragged the bodies of the dead mobsters with the frozen grins on their faces, to a large purple and green coloured van parked nearby. The henchmen-being very careful not to be seen by anyone-opened the back sliding doors of the vehicle with much difficulty and hauled all the bodies inside.

Commissioner Gordon stood in the morgue having a bit of an argument with two morgue attendants. The two, slim, dark haired men stood at the left side of the room, facing the overweight police commissioner who at the right side of the room. The two morgue attendants both wore white smocks. A row of tables stood between the commissioner and the two attendants, containing bodies covered with white sheets. "So where's the Joker's body!?" said the commissioner loudly and running out of patience. The two men just shook their heads at him, in confusion. "We just don't know," they both said, "it's not here." "In fact," one of the men included," I'm starting to wonder if it ever even was here!" The commissioner took a step towards him. "You've lost me," said the overweight man. "Well, I can't even find any paper work anywhere's telling when the body arrived. if it did arrive." "Well which one of the coroners down here on your staff, went to the accident scene and picked up the body?" asked the commissioner. One of the morgue attendants walked off for a second, then returned with a chart of papers, he held in both hands. He read off some info on one of the papers. "It says here...the Joker/Jack Napier's body was picked up by attendants Shona MacGregor and a John Coldistin. But that can't be," the man said in note of concern. The commissioner frowned. "What's wrong now?" "Well," continued the morgue attendant, reading the info from the paper, "there are no such people on staff here." The commissioner just huffed and walked out of the room.

Late that night, Batman was climbing up the wall of a fancy hotel in the city-THE BEST MONTH HOTEL-by hauling his body armoured body up a dark blue rope that was tied to the ledge along the rooftop of the twenty story building. He was wearing a new bat outfit-this one was in gray and dark blue: dark blue cape and cowl and gloves and shorts and boots, and gray skintight pants and long sleeved shirt. The bat emblem in the middle of the yellow circle was in the centre of the chest area as usual, and the yellow utility belt was still in place about his waste. The new outfit was obviously made from the same body armour as the black one.

As the dark knight made his climb up the faded brown wall, the window at the right side of him swished open. The face and upper body of the famed comedian Jerry Langford leaned out of the window and grinned welcomingly at the caped crusader. He wore a white shirt and brown tie and steel rimmed glasses. "Well I'll be, if it isn't Batman himself?!" exclaimed Jerry Langford with a big smile, "I'm a big admirer of yours." Batman panted a little and nodded at the aged comedian. "I'm on night patrol at the moment," Batman said as he stopped his climb for a brief second, "nice to meet you." "You know seeing Batman climbing up the wall outside my window like this, I don't know why...but I have a sense of deja vu," countered Jerry Langford as his eyes brightened at the sight of Batman, "well I'll let you be on your way. Nice to meet you." And with that, the comedian moved his head back into the hotel room, and shut the windows. Batman smiled and continued his climb up the side of the building.

Inside the Joker Comedy Club, the clown prince of crime , Harley Quinn and all his tan and yellow garbed henchmen all stood together inside the green and orange coloured room, discussing the plans for their latest crime sprees. The Joker's purple hat lay on one of the tables in the room. The tables were still laden with machine guns and pistols of all kinds. The Joker made a huge, evil, toothy grin at all his henchmen. He twirled the purple cane in his purple gloved hands over the green shirt and green bowtie, which could be seen between his purple jacket. "Now, first we start with something small...robbing the tills of a few supermarkets, then we work our way up to bigger and better stuff," the Joker chuckled in a slow sinister way, as he continued to twirl the purple cane all about,"as in hijacking, extortion." Harley Quinn walked up to the Joker and put her left gloved hand on his shoulder,"racketeering,...you all dig?!" The henchmen all nodded in affirmation and agreement.

Rupert Pupkin was again performing on the stage that night. He held the microphone in his right hand, as the yellow spotlight focused on him dancing around the stage, before the orange curtain with massive pop art Joker image on it. Rupert wore a white suit with blue stripes and black shoes. He wore a white bow tie. "Now, I'm trying to cross the road and the chicken comes along," Rupert said into the microphone as the audience began laugh, "and I tell the chicken that I want to cross the road to visit my aunty." Rupert looked out over the whole audience as he moved all about the stage. "And the chicken says:"well I want to cross the road to get to the other side. Bawk! Bawk! Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!" Rupert held the microphone in his one hand, while he bent his arms and moved them up and down in imitation of a chicken.

After the performance was done, Rupert was walking backstage down a green and brown coloured hallway, ( a few brown and orange plush chairs were strewn about the hallway) when he happened to catch sight of Jerry Langford, walking towards him yet again, from the other end of the hallway. Jerry wore a gray suit and tie and his usual steel rimmed glasses, and he looked his usual angry self at Rupert Pupkin. He made an angry frown at the younger comedian. Rupert Pupkin looked worriedly at the older man and took a few steps backwards. "Oh c'mon Jerry," Rupert protested," is this going to be a regular scene? Night after night?" "Yeah it is," said Jerry in anger, "now you can know what it feels like to be stalked and harrassed night after night, like you did to me! I told I was out to get you! To ruin you!" Rupert shook his head, and walked past the older man.

As Rupert was walking out the back entrance of the Joker Comedy Club, he was confronted by the angry, very tall statured sight of Jerry Langford yet again! Jerry was framed by two gothic looking buildings, covered in small statues of gargoyles. "I'm only in Gotham on a tour for a few days," Jerry told the stunned Rupert, in a very angry tone with a big scowl coming over his wrinkled features as he glared at Rupert Pupkin, "but a few days is still enough time to ruin you." And with that, Jerry just stomped off into the darkness. Rupert just stood there looking stunned and more than a little scared.

Inside the Joker Comedy Club, the Joker walked about the tables in the room slowly inspecting all the weopontry strewn on the tables. His evil, clown grin looked to be getting bigger and bigger. The henchmen and Harley Quinn all stood in front of him, watching him closely, "Yes sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" roared the Joker as he checked out all the guns. He carried the purple cane in his right, purple gloved hand, "this is going to be quite a time! Oh yeah! And this comedy club is the perfect front for our crimes! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker then went into a little tap dance all over the room.

Batman and Commissioner Gordon both stood facing each other on the rooftop of the Gotham Police Station. Several gothic looking dark buildings could be seen against the night skyline way in the background. Batman had a scowling look on his face. "So it seems, Batman that the Joker's body never arrived here." Batman made a brief glance down at the roof. "His henchmen must have taken it then," suggested the dark knight, as he looked at and frowned at the commissioner, "mabey he was never killed after all." Commissioner Gordon let out a startled laugh. The wind ruffled his white shirt and tie. "He couldn't have survived a fall like that," insisted Gordon as he made eye contact with the dark knight, "I mean c'mon! He was dead when he hit the pavement!" Batman slowly shook his dark blue cowled head. "Well nothing else is adding up with this, "he argued, "why would the henchmen want his dead body? Unless there was no dead body! Joker may be still alive."

Batman suddenly around and ran towards the edge of the rooftop. He leaped off into the darkness, his dark blue cape expanding into a large, swirly shape.

Back at the Joker Comedy Club, the Joker continued his inspection of all the various firearms lying on the tables. His evil grin grew wider and wider. "We're going to have the crime sprees to end all crime sprees! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

TWO-

The Pollford Supermarket was closed up late that night. The huge brown and gray building, with the titles of the store located on the very top in big block letters, looked completely dim and deserted.

Then, the Joker wearing his purple hat, Harley Quinn running at his left side, and all of his henchmen came running out of the darkness, all of them carrying a machine gun with both hands.

The gang shot out the wide plate glass window along the front of the big grocery store and all of them dived into the closed abandoned building.

Inside the massive grocery store, the Joker and Harley Quinn and all the henchmen went from one till to the next, filling their pockets with all vast amounts of cash. The Joker broke into his famous evil grin and laughed and laughed and laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Joker and Harley Quinn and his henchmen all went running down the dark, late night, mostly deserted Gotham streets. In addition to the machine guns they all carried, each person also had huge gray sacks of stolen money slung over their shoulders.

At that moment, the Joker heard loud footsteps running across the pavement behind him and his gang. "STOP JOKER!" a man's voice yelled. The Joker and Harley Quinn both spun around to see a tall, well built, blonde haired and bearded police officer standing in the darkened streets aiming a pistol, he carried in both his hands, straight at the Joker's face. A patrol car was nearby. "STOP RIGHT NOW OR I SHOOT!" the policeman ordered.

While the rest of the gang all kept running, the Joker stopped, broke into another huge, evil grin and opened fire on the policeman with his machine gun! The policeman's whole body was soon riddle with massive bloody spots as his body flew backwards across the street. The Joker then laughed and turned and ran off behind his henchmen.

He then stopped running again for a second. The clown prince turned and gazed at the empty patrol car parked on the street. The Joker made a loud howling laugh, then he reached his purple gloved hand, down into his left purple pants pocket, while still clutching the machine gun in his other purple gloved hand. The grinning clown prince whipped out a really long, orange and green coloured stick with a small white and red Joker head at the tip of it. The Joker aimed the stick at the patrol car. The small, red and white Joker head went flying off the stick and struck the windshield of the empty patrol car. The black and white vehicle exploded in a giant purple and green and orange explosion. A grinning joker face appeared in orange sparkles in the explosion! The Joker jumped up and down in uncontrollable laughter as he watched the vehicle blow up. The Joker then swayed his body around and around and around in a circle on the dark street. "Send in the clownssssssssssssssss!" he sang, while grinning and watching the explosion.

Suddenly, the Joker keeled over in sudden and shock. he dropped his machine gun and the gray bag of stolen money on the pavement. He dropped the stick on the pavement as well. The Joker clutched his back with both of his purple gloved hands. He had a flashback...

_He as holding onto the bottom of the helicopter, but the heavyw eight tied his leg pulled him off and downwards..._

_He hit the pavement-SMACK-on his back...dead in an instant...or..._

Harley Quinn was standing over the Joker now, helping him to his feet. "What's wrong Jack?" she asked, concerned,"you got an injury when you survived the fall down the cathedral? Did you even survive the fall?!" Harley Quinn sounded concerned and more than a little scared. The Joker just grinned at her, then he picked up bag of stolen money and the machine gun.

The Joker suddenly looked like he was having another sudden shock yet again. He collapsed on his purple clad knees and his purple hat fell off, his green, wavy hair. He had another memory...

_He was falling down the sides of the Gotham Cathedral. He then landed smack on his back on the pavement. SMACK! The clown prince of crime was dead in an instant. Or was?...was there?..._

_As he was falling down the sides of the building he had noticed Harley Quinn running into the street, from the front entrance._

_He had landed smack on his back on the street. He was dead in an instant. Or was?...was?_

Harley Quinn helped the Joker slowly to his feet. The Joker seemed more than a little dazed. He picked up the gray bag of money and the machine gun. "Let's get outta here!" he commanded to Harley Quinn. The two of them took off down the street yet again.

Batman lay on the dark blue cot in the Batcave. He was surrounded by the brown rock walls, and several brown stalactites hanging down from the cave ceiling near his dark blue cowled head. He watched some bats hanging from the ceiling of the cave, screeching away.

The dark knight got up off the cot and walked towards a small brown shelf situated against one of the rocky walls of the corner of the cave he stood in. There was a large, full colour photo of a long, dark haired teenager wearing a red and yellow costume: the upper body of the costume was red with a big, white letter R on the left side of the chest area. The red shirt had short green sleeves and and green gloves. The teen wore a green skinny mask around his eyes, with tiny eye holes. A yellow cape with two triangular yellow collars along the neckline, followed by a pair of green shorts and small green boots, made the outfit complete. His yellow cape was fluttering in the wind. In the full colour photo, the red and yellow and green garbed teen was standing on a sunny street somewhere's in the middle of Gotham City. Batman slowly picked up the photo with both of his dark blue gloved hands. His mind raced back...

_The middle aged looking man in the brown sports jacket and blue pants was being attacked by three, dark skinned hoodlums wearing ripped blue jeans and white t shirts. The man himself had short gray hair and a rough, round complexion. The muggers all had wavy black hair and were jumping on the man from all sides, carrying huge switchblades._

_The young man in the red and yellow and green outfit leaped up in the air and landed on top the entire lot of them. The young man managed to karate chop and karate kick off all three of the black men from their victim. The three would be muggers then made a rush towards the young man, who responded with three flying sidekicks into their faces. The three black men fell backwards and then ran off._

_The young, red and yellow and green garbed young masked teen, helped the shaken and hurt middle aged man to his feet. The man brushed some dirt off his suit and studied his costumed saviour. "Wow, I owe you a dozen thanks young man," said the grateful middle aged man, his nose bleeding, a bad, nasty blue bruise on his jaw. The gothic, ancient looking, abandoned GOTHAM WAREHOUSE, stood behind both of them. The brown and black, cracked and crumbling structure, had several sharp spires coming out of all of it's walls in a horizontal row down the side of the weird looking building. The faded words GOTHAM WAREHOUSE, was in huge, gray block letters along the top of the of the two story building. The young man in the red and yellow and green outfit grinned at the older man before him. "It's no accident we meeting like this," grinned the teenager, his long dark hair hanging down to his green sleeved shoulders, "I've been following you through the city, then I saw you were about to be fish bait from those muggers. The older man pushed his gray eyebrows together and twitched his puffy cheeks from side to side. "Following me?" he asked as he looked down at the long haired young man, "why?" "You're a famous private detective," answered the costumed youth,"I followed your cases for monthes. I'm a an amateur detective myself. I want to become a full fledged dick like yourself." The older man's face swelled with pride. "I'm flattered," he said as he continued to study the red and yellow and green outfit, "what's your name? I want to repay you." "Uh...I'd rather keep my name a secret," the young man answered, "and you can repay me by making me your pupil. Teach me all you know. I will make you proud." "You already have," the older man complimented. "Why the outfit? You another of those teen superheroes huh? Like that alien kid in Smallville?" The red and yellow and green costumed young man blushed and grinned and looked down at the pavement. "I guess you could say that." He looked back up at the older man. "All I know is I want to be a detective just like you. And yes, I guess I do aspire to be a costumed hero one day." "Ok then I owe you, partner, pupil," the man slapped the teen's green clad shoulder, "well with that red outfit, I'll call you Robin. How's that?" "Great!" exclaimed Robin, "I won't disappoint you..."_

_Robin and the older man were in a boxing ring together throwing a few punches. Both men wore red boxing gloves. The older man wore only red trunks. his body was very well built. They stood in the dirty, green ring throwing punch after punch. "Looks like in these sessions, we can both teach each other something," Robin chuckled as he swung another round at the older man's face. The gym was empty except for the two of them. "Yeah," agreed the older man, panting and puffing, "well your good, I must say..."_

_Robin and the older man both sat before a small, blue microscope on a desk in a white walled room. The older man was wearing a red sports jacket and a white shirt underneath. Robin was studying something under the microscope. The older man was sitting behind Robin and leaning over his left green clad shoulder. "learning to identitfy blood samples in an important part of crime work," instructed the older, gray haired man, "when I was on the Gotham P.D. I once prosecuted a serial rapist on this evidence. The guy had assaulted over twenty women, before..."_

_Robin and the older, gray haired man were both seated in an office. The brown walled, small room contained only a desk and two chairs cluttered with papers. It was night as could be seen through the windows. Robin sat at one end of the desk, while the older mans at at the other end. Both Robin and the man were examining black and white photos of a dozen dead bodies lying on the street, covered in blood. The older man wore a black business suit and hat. _

_Robin and the older man both fought, martial arts style, with over ten gang members running at them, carrying axes and switchblades! A big fight in the woods! The gang members all wore short sleeved, black leather jackets and were covered in tattoos. All of the men looked as rough hewn as could be. The older man wore a brown business suit and a hat and black tie and he and Robin were fighting off their attackers in a dense wooded area late at night. The older man pulled out a pistol from his pants and gunned down some of the men. Robin shot a glance at the gun and made a look of disgust and intense fear on his face. The older man turned his head, and cast a sharp glance at the frightened, long dark haired teen. "GET OVER IT KID!" Robin's mentor shouted, "THESE ASSHOLES ARE TRYING TO KILL US! GROW UP!" "I'll never like guns," Robin thought to himself, cold sweat running down his handsome face and over his skinny green mask. The gang members fell dead on the ground saturated in blood. Blood splashed all over Robin's green shorts..._

_Robin and the older man walked away from the dead gang members lying in the woods. The older man turned to face Robin and put his hand on the left, green sleeved shoulder. "You're good kid," the older man told his teen, long dark haired and masked pupil, "but you still need years of detective work." Robin's youthful, handsome face beamed, "but who knows? Mabey one day you'll be the greatest detective of them all. But you better get over your fear of guns." The older man broke in a chuckle._

_Bruce Wayne walked across the living room to greet the man who had just entered Wayne Manor. Two gorgeous, busty, long red haired young women wearing orange and blue long sleeved dresses sat on the sofa in the large living room of the mansion, holding glasses of wine in their hands and giggling like school girls. "I never had a threesome before," giggled the beautiful red head in the blue dress. The other red head giggled as well. "Well neither have I! But you have to start somewhere's," the woman joked and snickered._

_Bruce walked calmly up to the elderly man standing before him. The old man had wavy gray hair and a beard and glasses. He wore a faded brown trench coat and blue jeans and boots. Bruce Wayne wore a white tuxedo. From the look on the thirty something year old billionaire's face he recognized the old man immediately. "I don't believe it!" exclaimed Bruce in complete wonderment, "if it isn't my old detective mentor himself!" The two men shook hands. "And if it isn't Batman himself," answered the elderly detective. Bruce was stunned. "Wow!" he said loudly, "first my girlfriend and now you!" "I'm a detective remember, "the older man reminded the young billionaire, "where's your cape?"_

Batman stood quietly studying the old photograph, then he gently put the photo back on the shelf in the cave.

Batman then turned and walked out into the main area of the Batcave. The cave was filled with all the various computers, the dark knight needed to solve cases or catch criminals, the cave was filled with all the various items he'd collected from his cases: the massive, giant sized green dinosaur exhibit of a tyrannosaurus rex, the giant coin, the massive glass case containing all guns he'd once seized from a mafia gang, it was all there.

The Batmobile was parked on the driveway, which was thousands of feet above the very hidden depths of the cave.

Batman headed towards a small computer situated in a small corner of the cave. The computer was in the shape of a dark blue bat emblem, and was covered in hundreds of tiny, blinking lights.

Alfred, the faithful butler, came walking into the cave and walked up to Batman from behind the very tall body armoured figure of the dark knight. The elderly, stout man wore a black tuxedo and black bow tie and glasses. "Can I fix you something sir?" Alfred asked the gray and blue garbed crime fighter. Batman just shook his dark blue cowled head, as he strolled over to the computer, "I suspect Jack Napier/the Joker may still be alive Alfred," Batman sighed deeply and with much disappointment, "i don't know for a fact, but I have strong sixth sense about it." Alfred looked very puzzled. "Why do you suspect sir?" the elderly butler asked, "how could he survive his fall from cathedral?" "I don't know," replied the dark knight, becoming more and more lost in thought, "but if he is, I better get a handle on it and fast." Alfred sighed and frowned. His elderly face collapsing into a dozen of it's wrinkles and creases. "Jack Napier killed my folks," said Batman, "he ended my childhood. He destroyed a part of me as well."

Batman reached the computer and sat down in the small, black chair in front of the bat shaped computer console. He began flicking various switches on the machine. "I was just thinking back to my very early days as crime fighter," the dark knight made a grim chuckle. "I remember," Alfred said, as the elderly man stood over Batman's shoulder, "you wore that silly red outfit." Batman nodded as his dark blue gloved hands flicked more switches on the computer. "I owe a lot to my early detective mentor," Batman remembered, "he was also the second person to find out my secret identity." Batman turned his dark blue cowled head and looked up at Alfred. He made a very sarcastic smile at the old butler. Alfred pushed his lips together and walked away.

Back at the Joker Comedy Club, the Joker stood before Harley Quinn and all his henchmen in the small green and orange coloured room. All the tan and yellow clothed henchmen dropped their weopons down on the tables in the room. The Joker was jumping up and down, clapping his purple gloved hands together, and making his sneering evil grin. Behind him, situated on a small green shelf on the wall, was a metal red tube shaped object, and a red cape and black tuxedo hanging on a clothes peg below the shelf. the Joker just kept jumping up and down, and clapping his purple gloved hands together and breaking into a loud, wailing, evil laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! His wavy green hair was illuminated by the lights in the room. "OH HAPPY DAYS!" snickered the Joker, "THIS IS WORKING OUT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The next night, the Joker and Harley Quinn and all the Joker's henchmen all ran down the dark Gotham streets, towards a K-mart store located on a wide parking lot admidst several older, ancient looking buildings. The Joker, Harley Quinn and all the henchmen carried their machine guns in their arms as they ran towards the now closed up K-mart.

When they reached the front of the store, the Joker broke into his loud, wailing laughter and opened machine gun fire at the front of the store, shattering the glass. The Joker and Harley Quinn and his henchmen all then jumped through large, broken glass opening and ran into the store.

Inside the seemingly empty and dark K-mart, the Joker and Harley Quinn and all the henchmen went from one checkout counter t the next, and robbed all the cash out of the till, and dumped the stolen loot into their gray bags they carried. "HOHOHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOH!" howled the Joker loudly, as he filled up the bag with massive wads of cash from the cash register.

A male security guard wearing a dark blue uniform and cap came running from out of the darkness of the back of the closed store and pointed a pistol in his right hand at the Joker. The man was about twenty or so and had freckles and short red hair under his hat. "FREEZE JOKER!" the young shouted.

The Joker turned to grin at the man then opened fire on him with the machine gun he carried. The young man dodged the bullets, and fired at the Joker with his pistol.

Soon, Harley Quinn and all the henchmen dropped their gray bags of loot, and also opened fire on the helpless security guard.

The young man dived behind a shelf of toys in the dark store.

The Joker made an evil, loud sneer and tiptoed away from the checkout counter and moved his purple clad body deeper into the dark, closed store, swinging the machine gun he held in his purple gloved hands from left to right, as he tiptoed.

When he reached the shelf wherein the security guard had dived behind, a round of pistol shots boomed straight past the left side of the Joker's green haired head. One pistol bullet hit the Joker's machine gun, and knocked the weopon right out of the Joker's purple gloved hands!

Then Harley Quinn and all of the henchmen all opened machine gun fire in the direction from where the pistol shots had come from.

The young security guard came stumbling out from behind the shelf, covered in deep bullet wounds all over his body. Blood ran down his dark blue uniform. He fell down out cold face down on the floor of the dark K-mart. The Joker just made a wide evil grin-wider than before-and laughed even louder than before, as he stared down at the bloody corpse of the security guard. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" boomed the clown prince of crime, "NO BUSINESS IS SAFE FROM ROBBING FROM THE JOKER!"

Batman leaped onto the dark rooftop, twenty stories above Gotham City. His dark blue cape made a huge swirling shape as he jumped down. He turned around and looked down at the rooftops of all the other gothic, crumbling, ancient looking, spired buildings far below him. "Where are you Joker?" the dark knight said quietly to himself, "I suspect you survived, so now it's up to me to track you down."

Then, there was a loud thump on the rooftop right behind Batman. The caped crusader spun around and saw a fine figured, gorgeous young woman with short blonde hair wearing a black leather jacket, a dark blue shirt that only went up to her large breasts, brown stockings and black boots. Batman looked with surprise at the beautiful newcomer. "Hiya Batman," the gorgeous, short haired blonde greeted with a smile. Batman made a sideways glance at the woman. "Black Canary you're called right?" the dark knight asked her. The gorgeous, young blonde woman just smiled and nodded. "I heard a lot about you and really wanted to meet you," Black Canary told the dark knight with much eagerness, "you're very impressive, after getting rid of that mega gangster the Joker like that." Batman just frowned and shook his head at the busty blonde. "I suspect the Joker is still out there. I'm trying to track him." Black Canary just stood and looked silently at Batman for a moment. "Why do you think that?" she asked suspicously, "mabey I could help? Two crime fighters are better than one." Batman raised up his dark blue gloved left hand. "It's private vendetta I have with Joker, "Batman said, the moonlight shining on the bat emblem on his gray clad, body armour, "I have a hunch he's out there...call it a detective hunch. And it's a private thing between me and him." Black Canary smiled at Batman and nodded. "Okay, I read you," she said in a shrill kind of voice, and she turned around and ran towards the edge of the rooftop behind her, "but I'm in Gotham on a case of my own for a three weeks, and if you decide you want any help, let me know!" And with that Black Canary's gorgeous, curvy figure went into a kind of martial arts stance, and she leaped off the rooftop. Batman heard a loud siren like call echoing all over the city.

The Joker and his entire gang were back to stealing massive wads of cash from all the tills in the K-mart once again, when a massive shadow of a bat came upon all of them! The Joker, and Harley Quinn and all the henchmen all turned and looked with much surprise at the sight of the gray and dark blue garbed dark knight standing in front of them in the store. Batman stood there with his cape covering his whole body. A mean, cruel pout on his face as he glared at the Joker. "I knew it!" said the dark knight as he leaped towards the group, with his arms outwards, "so Joker you survived after all! I suspected!" Batman's dark blue cape went into a massive swirling shape as the dark knight leaped high into the air, aiming for the clown prince.

The Joker and his henchmen fired off several rounds from their machine guns at Batman's body armour, but the bullets merely bounced off the fake gray chest and stomach muscles which were part of the costume.

The Joker then spun around and threw his purple clad body out of the way of oncoming caped crusader. Batman landed on his dark blue gloved palms on the floor of one of the K-Mart checkout aisles and did a shoulder roll towards the fleeing Joker.

The henchmen all dropped their bags of loot and blasted away their machine guns at Batman in the darkened store, but the bullets still bounced off the bullet proof body armour.

Batman stood upright and delivered several karate kicks at all the henchmen.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Joker's loud howling laughter from somewhere in the darkness of the store.

Batman spun around, reached both his dark blue gloved hands into his yellow utility belt and pulled out a dark blue coloured rope. He then pulled a huge, foldable, black batarang from his belt and attached the batarang to the end of the rope. He then tossed the rope to the ceiling of the dark K-Mart, while the batarang evidently hooked onto something, and the caped crusader grabbed the dark blue rope with both his gloved hands and literally swung upwards, through the darkness, and suddenly let go of the rope, did a somersault in the air high above the floor of the K-Mart. He landed on his dark blue booted feet on the floor.

The Joker was hiding in the dark behind a shelf in the toy section. He watched the dark knight creep through the dimly lit store, searching for his arch enemy. "WHERE ARE YOU JOKER!?" Batman threatened, in a mean tone of voice, "THE MONSTER WHO MURDERED MY FOLKS! COME OUT! COME OUT AND LET ME KILL YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

The Joker reached into the left pocket of his purple jacket, and pulled out a small, metal, circular, green and red and white object which had a small Joker face on it. The object was making a mechanical laughing sound. The object was also emitting a toxic light green gas. The Joker broke into a wide, evil grin as he tossed the object with his left, purple gloved hand directly at his blue and gray costumed opponent. "NOBODY CAN LIVE THROUGH THE JOKERANADE!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" wailed the Joker.

The object landed at Batman's boots. The dark knight looked around, startled, then leaped upwards, high into the air, with his arms stretched out. The metal, circular object emitting green gas suddenly exploded, in a towering flame out, which erupted from the floor, which caused one of the shelves in the darkened K-Mart to fall over! The flame out soon faded away in seconds.

Harley Quinn and the Joker's henchmen were now all canvassing the entire K-Mart holding their machine guns in both their hands, always carefully scanning all the aisles.

Batman was swinging with both gloved hands, on his bat rope, far above the henchmen, in the darkness so no one could see him.

The wounded security guard began moaning in agony and more and more loudly.

As he perched on some railings of the ceiling of the K-Mart ceiling in pitch darkness, Batman craned his dark blue cowled head to the sound of the moaning. Batman moved his blue cowled head all around. His eyes under the mask were blinking tiny red lights over and over again. "Never take on an enemy in a dark store without special, infrared contact lenses," the dark knight thought to himself, unnerved, "how do I polish off the clown creep!?" The painful moaning increased. "Who's in pain?" Batman thought worriedly to himself, as he jumped off the railing in the pitch black, dark ceiling of the K-mart and landed quietly onto the floor.

Batman wandered about in the dimly lit store untill he came upon the badly wounded security guard. The caped crusader kneeled down and being as quiet as a church mouse and gently as well, hauled the wounded man over his left shoulder, and ran out of the store, past the shelves and aisles and shooting careful and wary glances at the Joker and Harley Quinn and the henchmen patrolling the store carrying their machine guns. "I'll get you next time Joker," Batman thought to himself, "but for now this man needs EMT!"

Outside the store, Batman ran across the street-carrying the wounded man over his shoulder-towards the black Batmobile parked in a dark alleyway.

Inside the K-Mart, the Joker and his henchmen and Harley Quinn finished robbing all the cash registers, and ran out of the K-mart. A police siren could be heard far in the distance.

The next night, the Batmobile parked near the entrance of the Joker Comedy Club. Batman opened the car door and walked out. As he trotted to the front entrance of the club, the dark knight spoke into a dark blue walky talky he held in his dark blue gloved hands. "Shields up!" he said loudly into the device. All the black shields of the Batmobile automatically sealed up the entire vehicle.

Two police cars drove up and parked right behind the Batmobile.

Batman walked seething in rage through a purple and green corridor of the the Joker Comedy Club. A huge, heavily muscled, black man wearing a white sweatshirt and gym pants and white sneakers walked up to Batman. The man had really long hair and a beard. "What kin wa do fa ya Batman?" the man asked the caped crusader in a deep husky voice. Batman glared at the man. "Stay out of my way dude, I'm after the Joker. I suspect he owns this club. Mabey as a front for his crime sprees." The heavily muscled black man, snubbed his nose at the dark knight. "Sorry Batman, no Joker here, "the man husked out his words, "ah gonna hask ya ta git!" Batman frowned at the man and tried to walk past, but the big, heavily muscled black man put his left hand on Batman's shoulder. The caped crusader grabbed the man's hand and twisted his arm behind his back. The man yelped in pain! Batman then swung the man in a semi circle off to the left side of him and continued on his way looking through the comedy club. "Where is the monster who murdered my family!?" Batman thought in rage to himself, as he wandered all about the hallway of the club. The sounds of the audience laughing and of a comedian telling jokes on stage could be heard echoing all over the club, thought the exact words the funny man was saying were muffled by the walls of the club.

The dark knight finally came to the door of the owner of the club. The door was purple with a huge, pop art image of the Joker's face laughing, with an illustration of a deck of cards facing outwards. On all the cards were smaller illustrations of the Joker's laughing face. batman kicked the door down.

Inside the purple and orange and green coloured room were a small group of clowns ALL of them wearing the same clown makeup as the Joker and all of them wearing the same kind of purple jackets with a green shirt and green bow tie. There was also a brown desk and brown chairs and several windows all along the walls. On all of the windows, the glass was sculptured to resemble a laughing clown face. The Joker impersonators all looked with fright at the sight of the dark knight who came storming into the room. "Where's the ring leader!?" Batman asked them in a strong, mean tone of voice, "Jack Napier/the Joker, the top dog! Where is he!?" The young men all looked at each other and all of them burst into loud laughter. "We're all the club owners Batman and all of us are the top dogs and the Jokers!" chuckled one of the Joker impersonators, smarting off to the blue and gray garbed superhero, "what did you think?' "Yeah," included another one of the men in a Joker makeup and outfit.

Batman moved at lightening speed towards one of the men and grabbed his green shirt collar with his left dark blue gloved hand. He glared at the terrified man. A big wet stain appeared in the middle of the man's purple trousers. Batman then let go of the man and went to another one of the men and also grabbed his green shirt collar. This man just made a sarcastic grin in Batman's face. "All of us are the owners of the club," the Joker impersonator chirped while waving his purple gloved hands all about. He stuck his tongue out at Batman. "We based our club and appearances on our hero, the one, truly and late, greatest comedian of them all THE JOKER!" exclaimed one of the other Joker impersonators, as Batman released his grip on the other man's shirt.

Outside the the Joker Comedy Club, Batman and Commissioner Gordon conversed in loud, desperate tones together. "I'm sorry Batman," said Gordon while facing Batman and putting both his hands on the dark knight's gray garbed shoulders, "there's no proof that Jack Napier/Joker is still alive and is involved with this club." The commissioner wore a brown trench coat and hat. The two police cars and the Batmobile were parked just a little ways, behind the two men. "THAT'S BULLSHIT!" yelled Batman as he removed the commissioner's hands from his shoulders, "I FOUGHT WITH THE JOKER'S GANG IN THAT K-MART LAST NIGHT! I KNOW HE'S OUT THERE!" "You don't know if that was the original copy himself or a Joker copycat, like those guys in the club,"the commissioner worriedly reminded the caped crusader. Batman just turned his back on the commissioner, and shook his dark blue colwed head. He raised both his dark blue gloved hands up to his jaw line in frustration and disappointment. "It was dark in that Batman, you couldn't make a clear description if that Joker was really Jack Napier!" shouted Commissioner Gordon. Batman just turned and walked back through the front entrance of the Joker Comedy Club.

Batman once more stormed into the office containing all the Joker impersonators. The men all stood there looking even more terrified at Batman than moments before. Batman scowled and shook his dark blue fists at the men. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THE MONSTER!" the dark knight said in a loud tone, "I'll TEAR HIM APART!" Batman glanced all around the room, scanning each one of the men, then he swirled around and stormed out of the room.

The dark knight was walking in slow rage down a purple and green corridor-the sounds of an audience laughing and some male comedian telling on jokes on stage way, way, way off in the distance, though the walls still muffled the exact words of the man's routinue.

Outside the Joker Comedy Club, Batman walked towards the Batmobile. The streets were really dark now.

Suddenly, right before Batman's shocked eyes, a series of ghostly purple, green and yellow figures appeared standing on the street all around the dark knight. Batman glanced about himself, wondering if he seeing things! The figures all reached for, and pulled Batman and pulled him in all different directions around and around and around and around in the near pitch black darkness. The ghostly then made loud ghostly moaning. Batman looked absolutely shocked! He tried to pry himself away from the oncoming entities.

Then the ghostly images faded back to nothingness, and Batman was on the sidewalk on the dark streets on his knees. He was utterly stunned.

Then, there was a loud booming, groaning sound from just above the caped crusader. Batman stood up and looked up and saw a giant, red and purple rectangular, ghostly wall coming down upon him. The wall slowly began pushing down and crushing Batman on the street. The caped crusader managed at the last minute, to slide out from under the ghostly wall and get back on his feet and rush towards the Batmobile. He pulled out the walky talky gizmo and held it up to his mouth with his gloved hands. "Shields up," he said into the device.

The shields unsealed the Batmobile and Batman ran inside his car and drove off.

Inside the Joker Comedy Club, a secret panel automatically slid open a large space in the orange floor of this one orange and purple and green colored hallway. The wide opening revealed the Joker himself standing in secret orange and purple walled office. The Joker looked up with an evil grin on his dead white face. The office was strewn with brown desks and chairs and tables littered with papers, and there was a brown bookshelf just behind the clown prince stacked with red esoteric titled books: WITCHCRAFT, THE FORBIDDEN SPELL BOOK, WITCHCRAFT RITUALS, DARK FORCES...

A tall, lanky, long dark haired long man stood on stage in the club, before a laughing audience. The young man was about nineteen or so, and wore a white and orange striped, short sleeved shirt, blue jeans and brown boots. He had a piercing complexion. He held the microphone in his left hand while his right hand waved all about himself. "So I walk into a psychiatrist's office and I say:"doctor, doctor, I need help! I keep on seeing pink elephants!" And the doctor says, "well Arthur have you tried counting sheep instead?" There were few laughs from the audience. The yellow spotlight was on the dark haired young man as he continued with his bad jokes, while looking out at the whole vast audience. He moved all about the stage while holding the microphone. "I'm driving down the highway one afternoon, and I happen to see a young lady sitting by the side of the road. And I ask the lady what' she doing, and the lady says that she's a hitchhiker. And I tell the lady, that if she's hitchhiking then she should be standing by the road holding out her thumb. You know? That's what hitchhikers do. And the lady asked me how it's done. And I show her, I get my own thumb out like so..." The young comedian gestured with his hand before the audience. He walked right in front of the giant, pop art Joker face image on the orange curtain, the yellow spotlight on him as he told his joke. "And then a car pulls up and the guy inside offers me a lift. And I tell the guy that it's not me it's the lady who's the hitchhiker. And the lady at that moment, jumps into my car and drives off in it" The audience made only a few chortles. The long, dark haired, lanky young man pushed the microphone closer to his face. "And I tell the driver, yeah I'd like a lift. So first the guy offers me some cocaine..."

The tall, lanky, dark haired young man walked down the orange and purple hallway. He looked more than a little disappointed in himself.

Then, from out of the darkness of the hallway ahead, the Joker and Harley Quinn both walked up to him. The dark haired young man burst into a broad smile when his eyes came upon the Joker. In fact his handsome handsome face spread into a grin. "Arthur," crooned the clown prince as he both of purple gloved hands on the young man's shoulders, and looked made a wide sinister grin at the nineteen year old comedian, "I consider you my number one comic," the Joker complimented the teenager, "I give you a great future. But you always have to do something for me first you know," the Joker reminded Arthur in a frightening, wise ass tone of voice. Arthur just nodded his dark haired head. "I aspire to be just like you Joker,"replied Arthur, "I want to be the next Joker! I always fantasize about that..."

_Arthur walked down the street in the purple outfit. He jumped up and down waved his purple clad arms. It was night. He was approaching the large riot of clowns just ahead. "DOWN WITH THE WAYNES!" shouted one of the clowns. Arthur ran his purple gloved hands down his orange shirt underneath his purple jacket._

The Joker gripped Arthur's shoulders even more firmer. He looked deep into the nineteen year old's piercing eyes. The Joker's grin deepened, and his grin took on an even more sinister tone than before. He licked his bright red lips. "I'm on a massive crime spree at the moment Arthur, and I need your help to get rid of Batman." Arthur made a sick, creepy grin and nodded at his clown faced mentor, "you have to come up with a plan for that. Unlike me, you're somebody silent, unassuming, can stalk the shadows, you could get Batman when he's not looking. Arthur just nodded. "You know I'd do anything for you Joker," chuckled Arthur, "your my idol. Just like Rupert wor shipped Jerry Langford."

_Arthur was dancing all about the night streets in his purple jacket and clown makeup and green hair._

"All I ever aspire is to be the next Joker one day," Arthur grinned and told the clown prince, "and I've suspected that Batman is really secretly that billionaire, Bruce Wayne. I remember when I first saw him..."

_It was a cold, rainy day out in Gotham City. Arthur happened to be walking down the street wearing his bright yellow rain jacket and blue jeans and black boots, when he caught sight of the sleek black limo that suddenly pulled up and parked near the sidewalk. Arthur saw the tall, dark suited, very handsome, dark haired man step out of the limo. "So that's the billionaire in the flesh, "Arthur Fleck thought to himself._

The Joker gripped Arthur's shoulders even tighter than before. He lowered his green eyebrows and his evil grin widened in evil intensity. "You're now my top aide Arthur!" sneered the Joker as he glared at the nineteen year old, "you're my number one man! I need you to back stab the Batman when he's not looking!"

Arthur started to have a fantasy. "Wouldn't it have been great if I could have snuck up on Wayne/Batman when he was a little boy," Arthur thought to himself, lost in another of his daydreams, "he wouldn't have stood a chance then..."

_In his fantasy Arthur was in forties and was walking up to the gate at Wayne Manor. "I can find and strangle the kid who will one day grow up to be my idol's enemy...the Batman," Arthur said to himself as he went deeper into his sick fantasy. In his twisted imagination, Arthur was walking up to the gate surrounding Wayne Manor, and he came across the young, ten year old Bruce Wayne, standing there behind the gates. The boy looked perplexed at the stranger. "What's your name?" Arthur bent down and asked the boy. "Bruce," the ten year old replies..._

_Arthur's fantasy goes even deeper. He imagined himself confronting the boy's father, Thomas Wayne in a bathroom. "He's my father," Arthur thinks to himself in his fantasy, "what if he were my father? I don't know why I should think that. Just a thought i'm having..."_

The Joker gripped Arthur's shoulders and made an even more evil grin at the nineteen year old. "You're my number one man now Arthur," said the Joker, "and never disappoint me! You now what happened to my other number one man!" Arthur just nodded. The Joker released his grip on the young man. "After all, when I retire your'e going on to be the next Joker..."

_In his fantasy, Arthur was running and dancing through the night streets of Gotham wearing his purple jacket, his orange shirt underneath, his green shirt, his green hair, his frightening clown makeup and he was in his forties. "I'M NOW THE JOKER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Arthur bellowed with laughter._

The Joker stared at the dark haired nineteen year old while making a wide, terrifying, evil sneering face. "I want you to back stab the Batman," the clown prince repeated his order and threat. "Don't EVER disappointment me! EVER! I offer you a future in comedy!"

Arthur finally just walked off.

Back on the stage in the Joker Comedy Club, Rupert Pupkin was moving all about the stage in front of the orange curtain, wearing a light blue suit and shoes and wearing a blue bow tie. He carried the microphone in both his hands. The yellow spotlight was fixed squarely on him. "You know, I hate bratwurst," Rupert said into the microphone while looking out at the audience, "I mean let me tell you. My dad used to bring home bratwurst for dinner every night, whenever I'd try to eat it, I'd always end up with mustard spilled all over myself. And I used to tell my little sister to lick it all off you know?" The audience members all chuckled and chortled. "And my sister got pretty tired of having to lick my shirt all the time..."

Some time later, Rupert was running all about the stage in front of the orange curtain with the huge, pop art image of the Joker face, carrying what looked like a small prop pistol in both his hands. "And the cops raided the joint holding their pistols like this!" Rupert shouted to the laughing audience in the comedy club, "and everybody held up their hands! And the cops aimed their pistols like this at everybody in the club!"

Hours later Rupert Pupkin was walking out of the Joker Comedy Club-he was walking towards his long, brown limo parked right out front-when out of the shadows emerged a very, very angry looking Jerry Langford once again! The older comedian stood at the back of the car glaring at Rupert Pupkin who turned and cast a fearful glance at the enraged looking comedy star. Jerry wore a tan business suit and a white tie with blue stripes. His glasses were pushed way up his nose. Jerry Langford folded his arms over his chest and took a few angry steps towards the more than a little concerned Rupert Pupkin. Rupert reached the limo and stopped walking. He stared with fright at Jerry. "Uh...look...Jerry," Rupert gestured his hands at his stomach area, while breaking out in cold sweat, "let's just shake hands and call it even. Your a big comedy star, and I'm a big comedy star now. So let's just go back to our earlier relationship as friends and mentors shall we..." Jerry Langford pointed an angry finger at Rupert. "I was in the audience tonight, those jokes you told were MY JOKES! I TOLD THOSE ON VAUDVILLE WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENS! YOU STOLE MY WHOLE MATERIAL!" Rupert leaned against the door of the limousine and broke out laughing. He ran his hands through his wavy dark hair. "Oh Jerry c'mon!" Rupert said cheerfully, and in a manner which suggested he was trying to reassure the older comedian, "we're both adults here..." "OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE NOT!" shouted Jerry, while pointing his finger at the scared younger comedian, "it's not enough you had to kidnap me, now you have to steal my material as well! This time you've had it!" Jerry came fast towards Rupert. Rupert reached his his left pants pocket and whipped out the stage pistol, and aimed it at Jerry with both hands. Jerry Langford stopped in his tracks. "Now Jerry, I suggest we go our separate ways now and move on with our careers," warned Rupert as he moved from side to side, while staring in fear at Jerry, "don't push me Jerry!" Jerry Langford glared at Rupert and came at him! Rupert raised up the stage pistol a little ways and the gun actually went off! Jerry's eyes opened wide a large, circular bloody hole and stain appeared in the middle of his stomach. Jerry put his hands on his stomach wound and then fell down on his left side on the street. breaking his glasses in the process. Rupert stared down at the body in shock and horror and then he looked down with equal shock at the pistol he carried. "How did a real gun get mixed into the prop guns?" Rupert asked out loud. He walked back and forth breaking out in a few tears.

Rupert sat in the small purple and green and orange coloured room. The room was tiny. There were only a few white chairs in the room. Rupert just sat in one of the white chairs looking very scared and more than a little sad.

The door to the room opened. Harley Quinn showed herself. "Mr. Papkin, he'll see you now," Harley said unemotionally, as the purple clad form of the Joker walked into the room with a big, twisted grin on his face. He was followed by Arthur Fleck. Rupert stared in awe and fear at the sight of the clown prince. "The Joker!" the comedian said loudly, "I thought you were dead. "The Joker and Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn all stood observing the scared looking Rupert Pupkin. "Mr. Palkin, "I'm the Joker, "the clown prince snickered in a sinister manner as his eyes scanned over Rupert Pupkin, "I like your work. I like it alot. That's why I agreed to cover up the whole thing, "the Joker told the frightened out of his wits man, "because I like your act I'm getting you off the hook. " Rupert stood up and ran with gratitude towards the Joker. He and the Joker both shook hands. "Oh thank you Mr. Joker!" Rupert said with relief, his face brightening as he looked right at the clown prince right into his eyes, "thank you kindly! You won't regret this! You won't!" The Joker just grinned and nodded at the grateful man. "But I expect a little something in return, " the Joker smirked, "this comedy club is a front for my base of operations and I'm going to expect you to do some errands and some major jobs for me, on that score now and again. " "I'll do anything Mr. Joker!" Rupert exclaimed while breathing a sigh of relief. He looked his purple and green clothed benefactor up and down. "In return, "the clown prince went on, his grin becoming wider and teethier and far more scarier looking, "I'll expand your comedy career. I'll even fix you up with your own tv show! How about that!?" "I LOVE IT!" shouted Rupert as he waved his hands, about while grinning broadly and excitedly at the Joker, "first off I want to change my name to Murray Franklin. Then, obviously, I shouldn't perform here anymore so I'd like to go straight to having my own tv show! The, in return, I'll do whatever other jobs you want!" "Let's shake on that partner," the Joker held out his left purple gloved hand. Rupert looked down at the open hand and chuckled. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Hahahahaaahah!"laughed Rupert as he shook his head and walked out of the room.

Arthur Fleck began to have another fantasy of Rupert-Murray Franklin with his own tv show. "I imagine myself as a guest on that show," Arthur thought to himself.

_In his fantasy, Murray Franklin stood on the stage, before the audience. Arthur Fleck stood up from his seat in the audience. Murray invited him down. _

_Arthur was now on the Murray Franklin show wearing his whole Joker getup. He shot the talk show host with the gun he snuck onto the show..._

_Arthur ran and danced all over the late night Gotham streets in his Joker getup. He flung his purple clad arms, wide, outwards and laughed heavily. "I"M THE NEW JOKER!" he shouted for joy! In his imagination he was much older than his nineteen years-mabey in his forties._

The Joker, and Arthur and Harley Quinn all turned and walked out of the room. "Let's get ready, hahahahahahahahahaah!" ordered the Joker, "we have a big robbery ahead of us!"

Suddenly the Joker bent over as if in agony! He closed his eyes tightly. He put both his purple gloved hands on his back. Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn both looked concerned at the clown prince of crime. "What's wrong Joker?" Arthur asked the older man. "What keeps happening to you Joker?" Harley Quinn asked with a queasy look in her eyes. The Joker just kept bending over while holding his back and gasping for breath. His mind flashed back...

_The Joker was falling down the sides of the cathedral! His purple clad arms out stretched. He was shouting out in fear. _

_He landed on his back on the hard pavement...he landed on his back on the pavement...he landed on his back on the pavement..._

_The Joker stood in a dark room screaming! His red mouth opened wide!_

The Joker collapsed in pain on his knees on the floor of the room.

_The Joker stood in dark room. A blue spotlight was on him. He flung his purple clad arms outwards and screamed in pain!_

_The Joker was lying on his back on the pavement! _

_The Joker was standing in a dark room, with a small, red altar of ancient looking books on altar in front of him. The Joker looked up from the altar and raised his arms high! A ghostly, red figure rose up from the dark floor behind Joker. The Joker's face was stretched! His eyes closed!_

_He was lying on his back on the pavement! A mechanical toy on his body was making some loud mechanical laughter. _

_The clown prince was standing in front of the altar of weird, ancient looking gray covered books. A fire rose up from the red altar..._

_The Joker was lying in the dark room on his back screaming!_

_The Joker was lying on his pavement besides the cathedral screaming!_

The Joker was pouting his red lips together in agony as he kneeled on the floor. His purple gloved hands holding onto his back.

Then, the purple clothed clown prince of crime got back on his feet. He turned and grinned at both Harley Quinn and Arthur Fleck. "Let's get to work guys! We'll start the evening with a gas station! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Commissioner Gordon sat in his office, doing some more paperwork: his desk was stacked high with folders and papers. He wore a short sleeved white shirt and black tie.

The phone on his desk rang. The plump police leader briskly answered it. "Hello?" he said into the phone, "oh hi honey!" Gordon exclaimed as he broke into a wide smile. He stood up anxiously. "How's it going Barbara? Say dear, I agree with you on that point, I think it would be wise to keep it secret for now about our connection with Wayne's butler Alfred." Gordon paced about his office with the phone in his ear, "yes, yes. It might get too complicated. Nobody needs to know that I'm your dad and Wayne's butler is your uncle." Gordon walked back to his desk and sat down again. "yes. Yes. For now it'll just be our little secret. Bye for now honey. Nice to hearing from you." Gordon hung up the phone with a big smile.

Back in her small, gray walled apartment, Barbara Gordon stood nude in front of a huge mirror holding up a weird looking costume in her left hands. Her wavy, light brown hair made a contrast against her gorgeous busty, shapely figure. The costume was a dark blue, bat shaped cape and cowl-like a female Batman outfit. There was a huge, bright yellow bat emblem in the breasts area of the outfit, long yellow boots, and a dark blue mask and cowl with sharp, upright pointed ears. A yellow belt along the waistline of the outfit, and long yellow gauntlet like gloves completed the outfit. The young woman cocked her head from side to side as her eyes puzzled over the outfit she held in her hand. "Well, I suppose it could definitely work out," she said at last.

Commissioner Gordon sat at his desk dialing a number on the phone. He put the phone in his ear. "Hey there! It's Commissioner Gordon again! Ok, so, you ran a complete check and there's no sign of the Joker's body at the morgue? Anywhere's?" Gordon said into the phone, "right, right, right, right. Ok then. See you later." Commissioner Gordon slammed down the phone. He rubbed his forehead with his hands. "It isn't possible he's still out there? is it?" he thought to himself, "how could he have survived? How?"

In the Batcave, Batman and Alfred stood facing each other. The two men in a dim corner of the brown cave having a serious discussion amongst themselves. A large, triangular shaped, yellow computer stood between the two men leaning against the cave wall. Alfred's white tuxedo stood out from the dimness of the cave. "But how could he be out there sir?" the elderly butler asked the younger man, "he was killed when he fell from the cathedral. A dead man can't come back to life." Batman frowned and shook his dark blue cowled head. "I don't understand it eitheir Alfred," the dark knight steeled his eyes as looked down at the cave floor, "but my hunches all say he's still out there. And I'm sure it was he I fought with in the store." Alfred sighed and licked his lips. He then pushed a white gloved finger into the middle of his glasses, pushing them furthur up his nose. "It certainly looks like it's going to be a long night for you then sir," Alfred concluded. A tense look came over Batman's face. "But there's something else Alfred," the dark knight continued, as he slowly looked up from the cave floor at the aged butler, "outside the club, there was a force...a dark force...something not of this earth..." Batman shook his head, "I can't describe it." Alfred took a step back. His wrinkled complexion looking more and more startled and sceptical. "My word sir," the butler huffed.

Suddenly, the entire cave started shaking! Batman and Alfred both glanced uneasily about themselves! Both men were thrown against the computer!

A series of ghostly, red and purple figures came out of the floor of the Batcave and moved all about the cavern! The ghostly figures contained arms and legs and when they moved a massive gust of wind caused pushed over all the trophies and computers all over the cave!

Batman and Alfred both ran through the cave, trying to fight their bodies against the tremendous wind force, which was slowly pushing them back!

The Batcave was shaking! All the trophies and computers were being blown across the cave floor!

Batman and Alfred were trying to hold their stance in the cave, as the paranormal wind force pushed against them! Batman's grey garbed legs were spread out. He pushed his dark blue gloved palms against the wind. His bat cape fluttered into a massive spiral shape. Alfred just stood there, shaking in terror.

Batman made a slow walk through the cave constantly fighting the oncoming, paranormal wind force.

The series of red and purple ghostly figures all moved around and around and the dark knight. Batman's very tall, body armoured form made a powerful wind shield. "WHO ARE YOU!?" commanded the dark knight as he pushed his dark blue palms out, his elbows bent, "WHO ARE YOU!? GET OUT OF MY CAVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" His eyes studied and scanned the ghostly figures surrounding him with much shock!

Batman found himself being pushed downwards to the cave floor on his left shoulder. He was blown fast across the whole, shaking Batcave floor and smack into one of the cave walls.

Alfred still just stood there,trying to fight the wind force.

Then, it stopped! All was calm. The ghostly figures faded.

Batman slowly got to his feet. Alfred walked over to him. The cave was a mess of blown over computers and trophies. There were flocks of terrified bats flying about all over the cave. "Do you believe me now Alfred?" Batman asked his butler with a grim smile. Alfred just nodded. "Something very odd just went on," the butler added, "something very dark and evil and frightening." Batman just nodded in agreement, as he surveyed the computers and trophies scattered all over the cave floor, "it'll take weeks to get this place cleaned up. " "Don't worry about that sir," admonished Alfred with a frightened smile. "Yes, something dark and frightening and supernatural," admitted the dark knight as he turned around and walked towards the Batmobile parked on the ledge: the ledge which was thousands of feet above the cavern depths, "but I intend to find out what!"

The Joker and Harley Quinn and Arthur Fleck and all the henchmen were all standing inside the large, green and yellow coloured gas station building, eagerly robbing the cash register. The Joker was dumping vast wads of cash into one of the gray bags he carried, along with one of the machine guns he and all his cronies also carried. He had a huge, teethy evil grin on his red lipped clown face. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"bellowed the clown prince as he looked down excited at the till,"this is going to be the greatest robbery we pulled off yet! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Then, the Joker's face went from a grin to horrified disappointment as he noticed the Batmobile show up outside one of the windows in the gas station. "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" screamed the Joker, as he and Harley Quinn and his henchmen and Arthur Fleck all went bounding out of the huge, gas station building, "WE GOT A GREAT SURPRISE FOR BATS TONIGHT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker laughed as he ran while his dead white face again.

The entire was running around the right corner of the outside of the gas station building, all of them carrying machine guns in both arms and the gray bag of stolen loot.

The black Batmobile swurved around the left corner of the gas station building.

Inside the sleek, black car, Batman sat there calmly and firmly turning the steering wheel with both his dark blue gloved hands, as he watched the Joker gang disappear into the night time darkness.

Then, his mouth and his eyes opened wide in total surprise, as he looked through the windshield of the Batmobile!

A giant sized, purple car with green wheels came speeding towards the Batmobile from out of nowhere's, speeding straight for the Batmobile! The purple car had a wide, white Joker face decorated along the entire front of it: the nose, the dead white clown face, the huge, evil grin with red lips, the green bushy eyebrows-everything! The Joker could be seen sitting in the driver's seat, with a huge, creepy grin on his face! His purple gloved hands rapidly turning the red steering wheel! Harley Quinn sat at the right side of the Joker, while Arthur Fleck all the henchmen could be seen sitting in the back seats of the massive purple car.

Two, black, very long machine guns automatically emerged from both sides of the Batmobile. The guns fired off several rounds at the oncoming Jokermobile!

Inside the Jokermobile, Harley Quinn screamed in pain as her body was suddenly covered with dozens of huge, bloody bullets holes! All the henchmen hollared out in pain as their bodies were also suddenly shot up with dozens of gaping blood covered wounds all over their bodies!

A massive, oval shaped, red on one side and green on the other, metal object came flying out from underneath the purple and green and white vehicle and came headlong towards the Batmobile!

The sleek, black car spun fast, out of the way of the path of the object and crashed into the left side of the gas station building.

The flying oval object struck one of the gas tanks outside the station and caused tank to explode upon impact!

The Batmobile then speeded away from the wrecked gas station building and raced down the street towards the giant sized Jokermobile. The Jokermobile spun around and moved away from the Batmobile at top speed untill it vanished into the darkness.

THREE-

The audience was jam packed inside the Joker Comedy Club late that night. The stage was empty. Just the orange curtain with the huge, pop art Joker face centred on the colourful cloth.

Then, the orange curtains rapidly parted. The opening revealed the Joker himself wearing a flashy pink and green and white long sleeved, very shiny bodysuit, a long white cape outlined in pink, a pink and white coloured necklace, red shoes which were curled at the top, pink gloves, a huge, red and gold coloured crown on his head. The Joker was sitting on a massive pink and green coloured throne which was outlined with gold balls! The clown prince carried a long white sceptre in his left hand with a small, red and white and green Joker head at the top of the sceptre. The Joker and the throne were situated against a pink and white coloured screen on the stage. The Joker just sat there, surveying the huge audience with a massive, evil grin on his red lipped face! His shone with evil intensity! "WELCOME EVERYONE!" greeted the clown prince as he looked out over the audience, "I'AM THE OWNER OF THIS MERRY CLUB! THE JOKER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The audience all went wild and clapped and cheered. "NOW, I'M RUNNING ANOTHER CAREER ON THE SIDE, A VERY PROFITABLE CAR..." At that point the audience just interrupted with whoops and cheers and applause. The Joker got up from the throne and took a bow. He then stood up on stage and ran his head from left to right, observing the whole audience. "NOW, WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR FROM THE AUDIENCE ARE VOLUNTEERS TO BE MY NEW HENCHMEN IN MY SECRET PROFESSION. THIS IS RECRUITING DAY!" The Joker broke into a loud bellow of laughter, his mouth wide open!

Elsewhere, Batman was driving the Batmobile. He flicked on a light blue switch on the black dashboard. Alfred's voice came crackling, very static like from the blue switch. "Yes sir," said the voice of the butler, "I'm busy cleaning up the whole cave at the moment." "Alfred," Batman said, while his dark blue gloved hands gripped the steering wheel, "I'm going to check out the Joker Comedy Club again. I have a strong feeling that's where's he's hiding out. I mean where else?' "Very good sir," replied Alfred's voice, "so you're convinced that Jack Napier is indeed still alive?" "I am indeed," said Batman as he exchanged glances between the dashboard and the windshield, "I'll be back at about one a.m." "I'll wait up," said Alfred.

The Batmobile parked right outside the Joker Comedy Club. The door opened and the tall form of the dark knight left the black vehicle. He held the black walky talky in his dark blue gloved hands. "Shields up," he said into the device. The shields automatically sealed up the sleek black car.

At that moment, Arthur Fleck walked up to the gray and dark blue costumed caped crusader and pulled out a pistol, in his right hand. He came at the gray, rubber stomach muscles. Batman dropped the walky talky, and grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled him to the ground. Arthur fired off the the pistol. The bullet merely bounced off the body armour and fell to the ground. Arthur struggled free, and got up and ran away, down the street and out of sight.

As Arthur was running his mind went into another fantasy...

_Arthur himself was the Joker: he had wavy green hair, a dead white clown face and a big evil grin. He was wearing the purple jacket and green shirt underneath and the orange shirt over the green shirt. He wore brown shoes. He and Batman were standing facing each other on the rooftop of the Joker Comedy Club. It was night. Arthur/The Joker pressed a purple gloved thumb on the pink carnation on the left lapel of the purple jacket. Light green gas sprayed from the carnation and all over Batman. A second later, after the gas cleared, Batman lay on his back on the rooftop, his eyes glazed over. his face now a white grinning, ghastly clown face..._

_Arthur was strangling his mother with a pillow in a hospital room..._

_Arthur was leading a group of rioting clowns through a night street. Arthur wore all the Joker getup..._

_Jack Napier was shooting dead the rich couple. The little boy watching in horror..._

"I remember when he told me all about when he did those murders, "Arthur thought to himself as he ran past building after building in the nighttime Gotham streets. Arthur's mind went into fantasy mode again...

_Jack Napier shot dead the rich couple. Then the image changed and Jack was wearing a colourful clown mask..._

As Batman stood outside the Batmobile, he happened to notice the bat signal in the night sky. Then he heard a loud beeping sound coming from inside the confines of the Batmobile.

Batman bent over and picked up the walky talky. "Shields up," he made the order into the gizmo. The shields automatically unsealed the sleek, black car. Batman went back into the car. A small, red button on the dashboard was making the loud beeping sound. Batman pressed the button. "Yes commissioner," he said. "Batman, I have some news about the whereabouts of Jack Napier/The Joker. I know where he is, I know what he's up too," the commissioner's voice sounded very urgent. "Well spill it out man," Batman replied, impatiently, "tell me!" The commissioner's voice faded in loud static. The voice came back, clear as a bell. "Meet me on the rooftop of the police station! Hurry!" pleaded the commissioner's voice. Batman sighed and slammed shut the door of the Batmobile.

The Batmobile drove off into the darkness.

Batman stood waiting on the rooftop of the Gotham Police Station. The bat signal shown in full glory. Batman finally sighed and shrugged his gray costumed shoulders in frustration. He took out the walky talky in his dark blue gloved hands, and put the gizmo near his mouth. "I waited an hour for you commissioner, "the dark knight grunted into the walky talky, "what's going on?!" "Batman?!" the commissioner's voice cheeped out of the gizmo, "where are you?! I've been waiting for an hour! I gave you the instruction of where we found the body of the famed comedian Jerry Langford, so what's keeping you?" Batman made a scowl and squinted his eyes. "No, that's not what you said before," argued the dark knight as he spoke into the gizmo while looking at the bat signal, "you said you had news about the Joker?" "No I never said that," protested the commissoner. The walky talky went completely static.

The Batmobile drove through the dark woods towards the entrance to the Batcave.

Inside the Batcave, the sleek, black vehicle speeded over the ledge in the cave, which was thousands of feet above the cave depths, and came to an abrupt stop. The doors of the car opened and Batman stepped out. The cave was still pretty much a mess, with computers and trophies strewn about the cave floor. Alfred just stood there in his white tuxedo, near where the Batmobile had parked. He had a very puzzled and forlorn expression on his wrinkled and elderly face as he watched Batman walk towards him. Batman was just shaking his dark blue cowled head. "Man what a night," stammered the dark knight in weariness and frustration, "I still couldn't find any clue of the Joker in the comedy club and then I can't reach Gordon again." Alfred just stood there with the puzzled, forlorn expression on his face as he watched Batman walk towards him. "Are you sure about this sir?" the aged butler asked the dark knight. Batman looked sideways at Alfred. Puzzled himself. "Sure about what?" Batman asked, curious, "what are you on about?" "Well sir, tonight, you said you wanted to seal up the Batcave forever, and reveal your secret identity to the whole world, "Alfred replied, "and you no longer needed my services." Alfred shook his head. "I don't understand sir." "What are you talking about Alfred?" Batman repeated, "I never said anything"

At that second Batman and Alfred both saw a series of red and purple ghostly figures emerging from all the brown walls of the cavern, at the left side of the cave. Batman and Alfred both stared in shock at the paranormal manifestations.

The, virtually the entire cavern was filled to the brim with flocks of bats! Bats everywhere!

Then the ghostly figures faded. The bats flew away. Batman and Alfred just stood looking at each other, stunned for a few seconds. "Oh my sir," the butler said, "this is too much sir."

The Joker and Arthur Fleck both stood facing each other in the purple and green coloured hallway of the Joker Comedy Club. The Joker looked more than a little disappointed at the young nineteen year old. "Not good Arthur," the clown prince said, putting the man down, "you had a chance to kill Batman and you blew it no pun intended." Arthur frowned and looked down at the floor. "I tried Joker, "said the young man, "he was a better fighter than I. " Joker frowned and stared in disappointment. "Don't fail me again Arthur," warned the Joker, "you're now my number one guy."

Then, the Joker turned around and tapped one of his brown shoes on part of the floor. The secret panel automatically slid open, revealing the secret, hidden, colourful room below. The occult books could still be seen on the bookshelves. A long, purple and orange coloured ladder emerged from the ceiling and shot down into the hidden room. The Joker scrambled down the ladder.

As he leaped off the last rung of the ladder, he was startled by the sound of a man's voice: "We meet again Joker, Jack Napier!" The Joker turned his head and saw Batman himself standing there. Batman glared with rage at the clown prince. "Batman!" yelled the Joker as he fell back against the ladder, "but how?" Batman walked slowly towards him. "I broke in here after the place was closed and snooped around and accidentally hit the secret panel, so here I am!" he said with pride, seething with rage, "YOU! THE MONSTER WHO MURDERED MY FAMILY! NOW YOU YOURSELF DIE!" The Joker's face took on a massive evil, grin. "I DON'T THINK SO BATMAN!" screamed the Joker, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The Joker pressed his left handed purple gloved finger to the carnation on the lapel of his purple jacket. A thick spray of light green gas emerged from the carnation, aimed at Batman. Batman ran out of the way. he reached his left, dark blue gloved hand into one of the small containers in his yellow belt and pulled out a fold up, dark blue batarang. He carefully and rapidly unfolded the weopon and tossed it at the Joker's neck! The batarang struck the clown prince's wind pipe, causing him to fall down on his right side on the floor, holding his neck with both hands and gasping for breath.

Then, the series of ghostly red and purple figures came out of the floor and went straight for the dark knight! Before Batman could get out of the way, the ghostly figures were upon him, their ghostly hands attempting to strangle the caped crusader. Batman gripped the ghostly wrists, but to no avail. "How...did...you...survive...the fall?" Batman wheezed out the question as he tried to fight off the weird, ghostly figures that were clinging to him and strangling him. The Joker slowly got to his feet and watched the scene with a massive, ghoulish grin twisting his evil clown face. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I had previously practiced rituals from some occult books kindly, given to me from that other crime master, Ras Al Ghul!" laughed the Joker as he enjoyed the scene of his enemy's apparent demise, "I conjured up dark spirits that kept me from dying! Kept me alive! Now they're going to kill you! The dark spirits protect me from anyone who plans to harm me!" Batman was pushed up against the bookshelf, as the ghostly entities still kept at him, while Batman gripped their ghostly wrists and struggled to free himself. "FAREWELL BATMAN!" screamed the Joker.

Then, the Joker suddenly keeled in intense pain once again. He gritted his teeth. He held onto his back with both his purple gloved hands. The memory came back to him.

_He was falling down the side of cathedral. His body smacked, back first on the pavement!_

The Joker went down on his knees and closed his eyes tight. He face became somewhat gaunt.

_He landed smack on his back on the pavement,_

The Joker was on his belly on the floor now. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he moaned in pain, "the dark spirits kept me alive from the impact, but...I...I...don't think... the spirits can sustain keeping me alive...it's catching up with me!"

_The Joker screamed as his back went splat right on the pavement! _

_The Joker was in a dark room screaming!_

_The Joker lay on the pavement._

The Joker lay face down on the floor, bellowing in pain and agony, clutching his back.

Batman still struggled to free himself from the grasp of the ghostly entities, though they were slowly releasing their grasp now!

The back of the Joker was a gigantic blood stain. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the Joker.

In another minute the clown prince lay on his face on the floor, finally dead.

The ghostly figures faded away. Batman walked across the room towards the dead body. He looked down at it.

Then, Arthur Fleck jumped down into the room! Batman jumped back, startled! Arthur Fleck was wearing the same purple and green outfit as the Joker! And he had the same green hair and clown makeup as well. Batman raised his fists and focused his fighting attention on his new opponent. "Another one of the Joker wannabes huh!?" the caped crusader said, with a tight smile, "you're going to end up just like your late boss here!" Arthur/The Joker, flung out his arms and moved in semi circle towards Batman. "Gotham always needs a Joker," the clown faced young man grinned, "and I'll finish the job!" Arthur/Joker touched his left, purple gloved thumb to a carnation on his lapel. Light green gas came from the lapel. Batman ducked down and dived like a football player towards his opponent! The two men battled it out together, martial arts style, all over the room! each man struck the other with eitheir a karate kick or a karate chop or a swinging punch or a left hook! Batman finally delivered a wide arc front round house kick to Arthur/the Joker's jaw, which sent him sprawling towards the ladder. Upon his shoulder hitting the ladder with such force, the metal was jiggled loose and collapsed right down on Arthur/the joker knocking him into unconciousness almost immediately. Batman just stood there quietly for a few minutes and wiped away a trail of blood from the left corner of his mouth. Arthur/Joker lay on his face out cold. "This is the weirdest case I was ever on," Batman thought to himself, "paranormal forces? Just plain strange."

EPILOGUE-

Bruce Wayne and the gorgeous silver haired young woman both facing each other at the white table in the fancy eatery, late that night. Bruce wore his best blue tuxedo and bow tie, while the beautiful, busty young lady wore a long sleeved black dress, with several gold bracelets and necklaces. She had long, flowing silver hair and gold earrings. The walls of the restaurant were bright gold. Waiters came walking past wearing white jackets and black pants and carrying trays of food. Bruce and the young woman grinned lovingly at each other and held hands at the table. "I have wanted a date with you for a long time Silver,"the thirty something billionaire told his date. Silver just blushed.

Later that night, the two of them stood naked under a hot shower together, facing each other.

Arthur Fleck sat in the small white room, wearing a white smock facing the pretty black woman sitting across the table from him. "You've been committed to Arkham for a long time." the middle aged black woman told him, "accessory to a series of violent crimes. Including attempted murder of Batman and a security guard. And an accessory to the murder of talk show host Jerry Langford," the woman said, "we know Joker had something to do with it, but we don't know what? Can you elaborate?' Arthur was lost in fantasy world. He stared into space...

_He was the Joker dancing down the stairs._

_He was in his Joker getup running down the street, late at night in a dark alley way. _

_He was being attacked by some hoodlums on a subway!_

_He was in his Joker costume and makeup on the Murray Franklin show! _

_He was not nineteen but in his mid forties._

_He was the Joker! Hahahahahaha_

o

re


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